URBANA, Ill. (AP) - University officials in Illinois and the United Arab Emirates have signed a deal to let students study at schools in both places and get engineering degrees.
The University of Illinois’ new program with the American University of Ras Al Khaima allows engineering students to get a bachelor’s degree from the school in UAE and a master’s from Illinois, The News-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2pITxz2) reported.
The agreement was initiated by the University of Illinois’ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the American University of Ras Al Khaimah’s School of Engineering. Through the program, students will be able to spend three years at the UAE school and two at the Illinois school, earning both degrees in five years.
University of Illinois Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies Reitumetse Mabokela, Chancellor Robert Jones and College of Engineering Dean Andreas Cangellaris signed the five-year agreement with officials from the UAE.
A maximum of five students will be admitted to the program annually, contingent on spaces available and the number of qualified applicants. Students must meet all of the University of Illinois civil engineering department’s admissions requirements.
Students will pay full tuition at the University of Illinois. Tuition for engineering graduate students from other countries is more than $34,000 annually, as well as an estimated $11,000 in fees, housing and other costs, according to the university’s website.
The American University of Ras Al Khaima was founded in 2009 and is styled after U.S. universities.
Mabokela said the University of Illinois has more than 400 agreements with universities outside the country, but not many involve a similar “three plus two” agreement.
“As with our other cooperative agreements, these provide an opportunity for students in other parts of the world, other countries, to study at the University of Illinois, and sometimes down the road they also provide opportunities for our own students,” she said.
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Information from: The News-Gazette, https://www.news-gazette.com
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